|
Post by deguconvert on Feb 17, 2018 20:25:14 GMT
I had to look to see the perspex, but did find it! I don't know why, but I realized I was expecting the full exterior to be sheeted in perspex, not walled portion of each level. It looks awesome! How is it working?
|
|
|
Post by misscatafer on Feb 17, 2018 22:32:44 GMT
Haha! When Rob was telling his sister about this revamp her question was 'but will they be able to breathe', so she must've imagined the same idea! The front is only covered with perspex along the shelving so they still have plenty of ventilation.
So far so good! Rob added a few more screws to the back and side panels of perspex today at the bottom as we were getting a bit of leakage from small gaps. I would recommend anyone else wanting to do this to go with 3mm perspex, as it is quite bendy and fragile. The mess has reduced significantly! Still getting poo flicking across the room, which is impossible to prevent. The only mess coming onto the floor now is from the extra shelf we added on the third level as it hasn't got perspex on and won't due to the door, and of course normal flyaway bits when the doors are opened and closed.
The scraping of teeth against the aluminium really is annoying (as Claire pointed out) but what seems to be happening echos Molette's advice; they scrape away leaving superficial damage, and then don't seem to touch it, or be unable to cause further damage anymore.
Since protecting the underneath with metal there has been no more chewing attempts from Toby or Boo, nobody seems to realise they have neighbours which is excellent.
I'm also loving being able to use wood shavings everywhere again instead of fleece! There is no smell at all, and as the shelves are nice and deep I can put looooads of substrate in there and then just ruffle it around to cover any large areas of poo or wee every few days as opposed to weekly cage cleans.
For Zenaida, the plastic sheeting in the shelves has remained completely untouched despite being exposed in areas such as under the wheel (they always keep that area bare) and wee spots. On the other shelves without the edging, there has been very minimal chewing, but I can live with this and it is so cheap to replace (we got a sheet which was probably 4mx4m for £3.75 from Homebase, had to fold it to get it in the car).
|
|
|
Post by misscatafer on Apr 2, 2018 14:45:01 GMT
Ahhh bank holiday, spent the morning cleaning out the cage, it's still holding up really well think it took me around 2 hours 15 minutes to clean it this morning.
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Apr 2, 2018 17:31:51 GMT
It looks awesome!! Lots of light there!
|
|
|
Post by misscatafer on Sept 26, 2018 10:44:39 GMT
As promised, here is an update on the cage mods and how everything is working out. I'm still really pleased with everything, still able to go 4-5 weeks between cleans. The correx and perspex are holding up nicely. The correx is stained in areas but doesn't smell and is fully functional. Once the stains are too much I will flip the correx over, haven't had to do this on any parts yet. We've had minimal chewing on exposed edges, but nothing catastrophic. The one bug bear of mine is that the correx on the back and sides tends to collect bedding as there is a slight void between it and the bars. I use a brush & hoover to sweep as much of if out as possible but some of it can only be reached by taking the perspex off (which we have only done once since the mod as it involves a drill). But I look at this like it is retaining their scents so it isn't the end of the world. This is going to be quite image heavy but here we go: this is the most damage sustained, this shelf never gets covered with substrate. staining under the wheel - a favourite pee spot and they deliberately keep it clear of substrate. another pee spot, you can see the substrate getting stuck on the sides. overall it's OK! once covered it looks great. the famous fort Oh and if anyone interested, Rob asked me to take a video of them being put back in the cage as he always misses out, I got bored quickly of chasing them about lol. My favourite part is seeing Toby and Boo underneath waiting by their door going berserk after spying the tub! : youtu.be/s-GBfoFCzRE
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Sept 26, 2018 16:23:32 GMT
LOVE IT! AND the video is so sweet!!
|
|
|
Post by misscatafer on Dec 24, 2018 16:02:31 GMT
Yet more cage modifications (the plight of being a degu owner). Since moving the cage into our new lounge we realised it is just too dark for them in here, so for their Christmas present this year we bought some LED strip lighting off eBay and glued it to the perspex on the outside. It's looking good! Currently letting the glue dry overnight before attempting to push it back into the space - really hope the glue holds up.
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Dec 24, 2018 19:24:27 GMT
AWESOME!! What to they think?
|
|
|
Post by misscatafer on Dec 24, 2018 21:43:13 GMT
They really like it, especially Boo & Toby. We were resorting to using a builders LED inspection lamp for them at the bottom of the cage, which as you can imagine looked a bit weird but they would huddle as close to it as possible so clearly liked the light. Only issue is that the glue has not worked, the middle section has half fallen down and the top section is also not sticking affectively. going to have to rethink how to attach it to the perspex, Rob has an idea to use silicone adhesive. I'm sure we will figure it out.
|
|
|
Post by bouncy on Jan 12, 2019 9:05:53 GMT
I use corex and perspex in and out of the cage - how about having the corex just overlapping the edge of the shelf where it's exposed, then using aluminium u profile? The corex can still sit flush on the wood, the minimal chewing stops, and nothing can get inside!
|
|
|
Post by titchycatnipsandwich on Jan 17, 2019 23:49:02 GMT
I like aquarium sealant as adhesive inside the cage; I've had no issues when anyone's eaten it so far.
I just wanted to add a caveat from your posts/peoples' responses in the earlier parts of the thread - my degus happily chew aluminium. Señor DeguWrangler has a piece of aluminium |_| somewhere that River has carefully rounded the corners off (nutter absolutely abhors a sharp corner and will round anything off that he deems too sharp - but will happily chew the wood away from a metal screw then sit on the screw. To the point where I leave the screws sticking up and exposed because he obviously likes that in his cage decor... He also chews screws. But so far, hasn't made a dent in those the way he has with the aluminium |_| stuff)
As far as I can tell they don't *eat* aluminium, but they certainly don't care that they aren't meant to chew it... (But mine also chew flat surfaces. YMMV)
|
|
|
Post by bouncy on Jan 18, 2019 0:30:57 GMT
What we use as aluminium edging is also available in stainless steel for those with degus with discerning tastes.....
|
|
|
Post by misscatafer on Feb 25, 2019 18:37:37 GMT
Went to Home Bargains today and found these brilliant bird houses in the garden section for only £2 each! They are fantastic as they are large enough for a degu to comfortably sit inside which in my experience is rare for these straw structures. They look fab in the cage and can be hung up. Bella and Harmione love theirs and are busy destroying it in typical degu fashion as I type.. I highly doubt it will last long, kind of wish I bought a few spares for the price!
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Feb 26, 2019 4:52:24 GMT
WOW!! Those are BRILLIANT! I love them!! All you need are some Tiki torches to finish them off! LOL!
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on Feb 26, 2019 9:48:05 GMT
They’re awesome!!!
Gonna keep an eye out 😁
|
|
|
Post by misscatafer on Jun 11, 2019 21:40:19 GMT
|
|
|
Post by deguconvert on Jun 11, 2019 23:26:15 GMT
WOW! The net featured in the photo must be massive! African Grey Parrots aren't the largest of parrots, but they certainly aren't small. I'm looking forward to seeing your photos when you get them and can post them!
|
|